Monday, May 24, 2010

Tin Animal DiaryDownstairs in the Chapter Book Room$12.95Do you have secret plans for world domination that you need to hide under cute animals and lock and key? Well, maybe you just want a nice diary...I do, too! Not like, for secret plans or anything... This diary is 3 things:1. Super Cutethe cover has cute forest animals!2. Super Secretit has a lock and key!and3. Super Awesomeit's tin on the outside and it comes with magnets that you can decorate the cover with!

Walrus hand puppetUpstairs on the puppet tree$21.95Here are 6 possible uses for this amazingly awesome puppet:1. Re-enact "The Walrus and the Carpenter" from Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking Glass2. Scare your cat3. Go out on the road with Wally the Water-Safety Walrus, who gives safety advice at swimming pools (just in time for summer!)4. Puppet shows that take place in the ocean5. Have him lip-sync the Beatles' "I Am the Walrus"6. Make paper shrimps, crabs and sea cucumbers and then bring him to the dinner table and show your family what (and how!) walruses eat

Sand cupcake setUpstairs by the hut$15.95

Now that the weather is warming up, it's time to head to the beach. When I spend a day playing and reading and swimming near the beach, I get really hungry. But now, thanks to this awesome set that allows me to make and decorate cupcakes with sand, my beach-snack problems are SOLVED. Here are nine fake flavor combinations one could make with this set:1. Starfish Strawberry2. Tutti Frutti Turtle3. Chocolate Crabby Cakes4. Gingerbread with Goldfish Ganache5. Fish Fruitcake6. Triple Turtle Torte7. Goldfish Gingerbread8. Tiramisu Turtle9. Starfish Shortcake

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Tomorrow (that's Wednesday, May 19th), author R.L. LaFevers will be here to discuss and sign her Theodosia Throckmorton and Nathaniel Fludd, Beastologist books! A brand-new installment of each of these middle-grade fantasy series just came out (Theodosia and the Eyes of Horus and The Basilisk's Lair), so there's a new adventure for Egyptologists and Beastologists alike.

As if that weren't awesome enough, Kelly Murphy -- illustrator of the Nate Fludd books, Masterpiece, and many picture books -- will be here as well to draw and sign.

Friday, May 14, 2010

Today's the last day for sending in entries to our art and writing contests. So far, we've gotten an unprecedented amount of submissions, and they're still coming!

On May 28th, we will announce the winners here and on our contest blog, with the winning entries posted on the contest blog and the winning art displayed in the store. Winners will also be notified by mail.

Thanks to every kid who has submitted their work, and thanks to all the parents and teachers - especially those kind, worried souls rushing in these last few hours.

Title: The Mysterious Benedict Society Author: Trenton Lee StewartReviewed by: CleoRating: 5 bananas “I loved this book! All the characters brought out the best in each other. The storyline was imaginative. Very mysterious! 5 bananas!”

Thanks to our reviewers -- keep reading and writing! (You can fill out a review form in the Chapter Book Room, or email your review to blog@curiousg.com) We love to hear from you.

Thursday, May 6, 2010

So last week, I totally bought the MoMa Modern Play House. We do still have some in, though! Now that I have an ultra-posh pad, I'm on the lookout for tiny things to visit it. Maybe you, too, are looking for tiny things to give as gifts? To decorate presents? To take on a plane or road trip? Either way, here is a feast of tiny things that are awesome, and newly arrived at the store.

Firstly, and Most Importantly...they have arrived:Silly BandzUpstairs by the Hut, $2.95We have Dinos and Animals, and more to come...

Never-fall UFO WindupsUpstairs around the hut, $3.95Wind these guys up and they will never fall off a counter, table or airplane tray!

Gumby and Pokey BendiesUpstairs on the hut, $2.99We've also got more of these retro, lovable clay-dudes!

Hedgehog PupsOn the Shleich display at the Hut, $5.95

These cute baby hedgehogs by Schleich are roly, poly and TINY!

Travel Activity KitsUpstairs on the Hut, $12.99These new travel activity kits are GREAT for keeping little ones entertained on the go. We have a Curious George one, Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel and Five Little Monkeys. Each kit comes with a book, crayons, a coloring book, stickers, a game (like bingo), and a CD with a read aloud and music.

Ah, spring books. They are full of joyous things: there are flowers, there are bunnies, there are cupcakes and sunshine. There are adventures, capers, and songs. Of course, you occasionally get the extra syllable stuffed uncomfortably into a rhyming couplet, a heavy-handed moral, an illustration trapped in the gutter...but all good and mediocre picture books pale in comparison with my newest favorite.

This is the tale of a kindergarten graduate who desperately wants a balloon at graduation - but isn't allowed one because she is a porcupine. Her predicament, her friendships, her waving quills, her series of creative solutions to her predicament: everything in this book is smart and endearing, but never overly clever or saccharine. You will sympathize, you will laugh, and you will crave gumdrops. It is, in a word, fresh. Its audience doesn't even need to be strictly graduates (of any age), it appeals to all of us who dream the impossible, and as humans, how can we not?

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

We have a busy, event-filled spring ahead of us, starting with one this Saturday!

LESLEA NEWMAN, author of Heather Has Two Mommies, has a new mommy-centric picture book out just in time for Mother's Day. She'll be here this Saturday, May 8th, at 12pm for an extra-special story time. She'll read and sign Just Like Mama and make Mother's Day cards with us! Show your mama (or mommy, or mother, or mum) you know no one loves you just the way she does -- and no one loves HER just like you do! -- with a signed copy of this sweet mother and child story and a handmade card.

As if that weren't fun enough, R.L. LaFEVERS will be here May 19th at 4pm to sign the third Theodosia Throckmorton installment, Theodosia and the Eyes of Horus, and the second Nathaniel Fludd Beastologist book, The Basilisk's Lair -- and all the previous Theodosia and Nathaniel Fludd books. Whether your interests run more toward Egyptology or beastology (or perhaps, brave soul, you're adventurous enough for both!), there'll be activities galore at this exciting evening event!

Saturday, May 1, 2010

...Because booksellers need something to amuse themselves with. I like to think of it more as a test of memory, beyond the usual "I remember this book from my childhood about a pig named Horace, or maybe Norace, who..." request. We do love those games, and especially the excited customer response upon finding that special remembered book, but there's certainly something special about finding a lookalike.

Deb Caletti's new teen novel, The Six Rules of Maybe may look familiar...

..Because you saw that puffy vest and boardwalk on a paperback edition of:

You Shouldn't Have to Say Goodbye by Patricia Hermes.

Now that's enough internet s(m)urfing for this blogger, I hope you all go out and enjoy this lovely, lovely May Day weather - And wear sunscreen while you do it (My mum raised me well!).